Oh man am so late for this, I just finished watching the show on the 3rd day after its premiere and writing after 7 days since. There's a lot of talk about this season even after the whole thing premiered in just one freaking day, so strap your pajamas or belt tighter than a noose (provided you have strings to knot from pajamas) cause there is a lot we're going to divulge into.
1)Promoted from slick boyfriend to battle-ready baby sitter, give it up for Steve! :
This guy had his role in this show changed entirely, I don't know how his character transition from a person who favors just getting his own life sorted to well...being involved. Especially after all the supernatural, other dimensional beings he'd just seen and shrieked so hard at from witnessing. But you've seen at the end of season 1 that he's a person whose willing to be in good ends with people and mostly towards Nancy, his love interest then making amendments towards Jonathan. But that love might have just faded at the beginning of the season and off he goes trying to help out the kids in their battle against the demo-dogs, which might I have to add had one of the most bad-ass sequence I've seen from a character who went from sort-of rich snob to knocking out creeps with his baseball bat( the one with nails curled around ), it was hilarious and exhilarating. Even against his arch-nemesis; whom being Max's older brother, he stood his ground besides getting his ass-handed. Can't blame him, Billy is a complete homicidal sociopath. Then finishing the job although he showed much restrain to do so at first, at finally killing the entity's borrowed nest within the real world. Duffer brothers has gotten every right idea for character development done well into this show and Steve is a testament of someone you root for even if you didn't like him the moment he was introduced.
2)The willening ( it's a wordplay for "sickening") :
Yeah I know, bad wordplay but it fits the context. Poor kid couldn't catch a break even from the start of the season. The ending as we know it from first season was entirely related to D'Artagnan, Dustin's new extra-terrestrial friend that ate his cat. Which suggested that Will was infected by something once he was incubated by the creature to be a host before Dart leaves his body once Will was freed. A way to channel his presence before his physical entrance towards the real world that fortunately for the good guys became sealed thanks to Eleven ( It's Jane Ives or Jane Hopper now that Hopper adopted ). Noah Schnapp, the actor deserves a lot of credit for playing a kid who's struggling with sheer will against a losing battle and still feeling lost, and confused by the long run after becoming possessed. Although am hoping the best for Will out of complete sympathy, I know that's not going to be the case as we've seen from the ending citing that the battle is still not over somehow.
3)X-Men Origins - Eleven( Totally bitching ) :
Instead of going to Professor X in Xavier Institute, our little lost psychokinetic lead character eventually wound up in the slums of Illinois, finding her long and lost....well Indian sister ( no blood relations I suppose ). The Indian sister revealed that she has abilities to control what people see, basically abilities given to her the same way as Eleven and that she must help her sister "Kali" ( AKA Eight ) to take revenge against the scientists for their experimentation. But we see Eleven almost succumbing to her darker vengeful side before spotting a photo of the fat guy she's choking, has kids of his own inside their bedroom panicking after calling 911. Eleven then swipes the gun away from her sister before it almost shot him, taking away her seed of vengeance before departing to go help out her friends in Hawkins. You know what, this part of the story feels underwhelming to the point that it feels like straight up it got ripped off from an X-Men's chapter( hence the title of this paragraph ). But her bond between Hopper is what steals the show, Hopper is looking out for her cause he knows what they did was wrong and they eventually develop a relationship where Hopper acts as guardian/partner in crime, finally conceded that she's gone through her own hell and could take of herself without Hopper intervening. But even more as we learn that Jane ( yes I did a bit of a switch here ) reminds Hopper of his deceased daughter of which he still hasn't healed from that wound. Before Eleven and Hopper finally seal up the portal from the entity and achieving sweet victory for all in Hawkins. Also that outfit, damn she nails off that punk-era look, straight out of a Joan Jett moshpit. As for her other backstory and the other 9 experimented children, time will tell and things could go big in the next season in correlation to that.
4)Here lies Bob, we'll truly miss you :
Just like what happened with Joe Keery playing Steve, Sean Astin won the audience over playing Bob Newby ( yes including me ). It's funny cause the Duffer brothers had plans to write off both characters from early on in the show before finally choosing to let well Steve stay as a recurring part and Bob just stay a little longer before his shocking death within the 8th episode. Bob was the guy who warmed my heart, that's thanks to Astin's acting playing a very earnest, sincere character. He was suppose to be played by someone else but am glad that didn't happen. The other sad part was Bob was also the creator of the AV Club that Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will were part of in school. So not only were we sad to see him go, we wanted him avenged and Joyce played by Winona Ryder brings us vengeance even to the point of boiling Will to the max just to relieve him of the entity possessing him. To other articles I've read around the internet bringing Barb into the mix I'll say this, no this is nothing like Barb. Bob was such a likable character that his death ( being eaten alive by Demo-dogs ) was so horrific that it channeled us to hope that Bob's sacrifice was in no vain. I mean for cry out loud, he was the nerd who knew BASIC before I even knew it existed in the first place. Also if you're a Goonies fan, he might have left an easter eggs for you to spot.
5)Last hurrah for the military :
After Nancy and Jonathan with the help of conspiracy nut, Murray Bauman got rid of the government researchers out of their town; Hawkins was pretty much in safe hands or so we would like to think. Nancy can finally rest knowing that Barb parent's won't have to spend so much money looking for her and take a wild goose chase based on false presumptions. But even then, you might have to reconsider the odds since the entity from the rift is still warming up for next season and with the scientists gone, there's going to be no one to consult to. With the facility now fully abandoned, it would seem they're not going to comeback anytime soon. Sure as hell not seeing Brenner again....I hope. Also I like how Hopper can handle their problems better than they could at all.
6)Love triangle, between Nancy, Steve and Jonathan...ugh :
Am hoping this was only a mistake or just a misstep on both of their parts but Nancy is now shagging with Jonathan? I mean I saw the signs but seeing it on the show, it kind of bored me. I would understand why their relationship would naturally develop but this aspect of the show before episode 7 was a bit low. Am glad however though that Steve is now off kicking alien baddies and being part of the AV Club as a baby-sitter just like The Goonies. Jonathan though really needs to explore in other places, I think he is an interesting character, it's just shagging it up with Nancy isn't for me going anywhere. Maybe this wasn't the right moment to pick up on this but hey, they're teenagers and I have also Murray to blame on this for provoking. Now am curious to see where Nancy goes since Barb's death has finally gotten the justice it deserved.
Wrapping it up :
This season came out strong, with newer characters to like such as Maxine ( Mad Max ) and her brother Billy ( total Sociopath ), Doctor Owens ( the more humane doctor ) and Bob, rest in piece dear friend. The show is opening its layer as each piece of the plot unravels, we learn more about its world and this season had quite a few standout moments besides a couple of shortcomings like episode 7 maybe. Netflix has ramp up the budget and it showed, there were so many practical and CGI effects blending together including in certain set piece moments, more than what previous season did. The soundtrack didn't leave much of an impact as season 1 did however, I mean season 1 had some hard hitting music in comparison to season 2. Maybe next time they'll do it better, am hoping. Season 2 or I should call it as a sequel: Stranger Things 2, wasn't as good as season 1 but it was close and am ok with that thanks to how much it has progressed. Also hit me harder with more movie references here and there, there were tons going within 1984, maybe 1985 will get there, again hopefully. Duffer brothers have also worked on shows like Wayward Pines, be sure to check that out but do skip season 2 cause ah well...it falls a bit flat.
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Images uploaded from random sites, thank you google image search
That's it, am done for the day. Do let me know if you want to discuss about anything. What was your favorite moment or which character do you like the most? don't hold anything back.
Which character do I like the best? That's definitely a hard one to answer as there have been so many character development - soooo many - I do think though if I had to choose only one - it would have to be my girl El - Eleven - 011. The only aspect of her character that I didn't like during season 2 was the mop on her head while living in hiding with Hop - She looked to "boyish" with the curls - when she met her "sister" though and became Punk 011 - her look was dead on for the show and the time period - 1983. - @travel160 Who is your favorite character??
For me it's between Hopper and Dustin, two are their own person with each likable traits. Dustin with his passive indifference and funny one-liners, Hopper getting serious about something and to see his work becoming undone gives out a funny reaction of his disappointment.
Those two were actually my 2nd and 3rd choices - Dustin is the king of one-liners and adds that comical yet serious aspect from his characyer to the show... Hops - some of his work was undone - as with El - which I also thought his reaction was quite funny - but I think he's always played an integral role in solving most situations that the cast gets into - as emotional as he can often get - he always seems to be the most grounded and level headed when needed to be..
He's the grown-up of the group I guess. Even Winona goes a bit too far when she goes cray, cray
@trave160 - I agree - to both - he's definitely the only "grown-up" of the main characters I suppose since Winona is off the deep end - mostly - (she did have the smarts to turn up the oven on Will though) I guess with Hops - the first season especially - a lot more grown up characters were kind of in the mix and Hops was kind of portrayed as the lackadaisical doughnut eating sheriff who just seemed to have a lower IQ than the kid crew - Ya DiGG?
Oh I forgot to add the doctor, I mean he has quite the depth. The guy who played him, Paul Reiser was also in Aliens
Yes - Paul Reiser was definitely a delightful surprise to ST2 - I try to stay out of the way of the social media spoilers for Netflix/TV Shows and was very delighted to see him as an addition to the season. I remember him most from "Mad About You" a 90's TV sitcom with Helen Hunt - I totally forgot he was in Aliens as well. Have you watched the "Beyond Stranger Things" - Netflix is very smart I'll tell ya - I'm sure 80÷ of ST fans watched another 3-4 hours straight thru Binge-Worthy style - I know I'm guilty. 😀
Lol, lower IQ or not, at least he's careful unlike Dustin. His curiosity literally killed the cat :-)
I found the episode with 008, or Kali was the weakest. It felt really detached to the whole. And I thought Paul Reiser was gonna traitor his way out again when he led the people out of the labs like he did in Aliens. Was pleasantly surprised he came through in the end and even set up Jane her papers. He finally made amends for those soldiers and Ripley in Aliens ;-)
Really dude? Personally I liked episode 8 with Kali - It certainly did detach from the cast other shenanigans and such - but Kali bringing back "Dr. Jenner" for 11 to see and feel the emotions she did was quite integral for showing her how to truly use her powers to the fullest and dig deep inside to propel them from her inner anger and rage - which it looked like she probably needed while closing the upside down portal at the Hawkins Lab -
Plus - it was worth it just for Kali to help remake El's punk image with the makeup, hair, and new diggs - she looked total 80's punk movie badass in my opinion.
Just my opinion - Can ya tell I'm a tad passionate about the show lol
At first I thought Bob was the entity's agent or even the entity. His advice doomed Will to become the parasite's host and later in the facility when Joyce touched his hand she said "Cold!". The Duffers probably used him to throw us off and I guess they did! He was just human after all. So sad for Will's mom.
Ok I added Nancy and Jonathan's part, forgot all about that honestly.
Great season wrap. It was a great season. Glad they were able to top season 1. My favorite character sparring was between Hopper and Eleven.